With David Paterson's announcement that he won't seek a full term in office, all eyes turn to fellow Democrat Andrew Cuomo.

(CNN) - With New York Gov. David Paterson's announcement Friday afternoon that he won't run this year for a full term in office, all eyes are on fellow Democrat Andrew Cuomo, the state's attorney general.

With Paterson out of the campaign picture, Cuomo is considered the Democratic Party's likely gubernatorial nominee. While the son of former three-term Gov. Mario Cuomo has not formally indicated if he'll make a bid for governor, he hinted Friday that some kind of announcement would be forth coming.

"This is an election year and I will announce my plans at the appropriate time. In the meantime, I will continue to focus on my job as Attorney General and the many important issues we are pursuing," he said in a statement.

Cuomo added that he is "sure this is a difficult choice and a sad day for the Governor and his family. It is in the best interests of all New Yorkers that the state government function through this difficult time and address the pressing budgetary problems we face."

According to a Siena College Research Institute survey released Monday morning, Cuomo led Paterson by 42 points in a hypothetical Democratic primary matchup. The survey also indicated that Cuomo would top former Rep. Rick Lazio, the probable GOP nominee, 63 percent to 26 percent in a hypothetical general election matchup. In that same poll, Lazio led Paterson 46 percent to 39 percent. The survey also showed two-thirds of New York state voters had a favorable opinion of Cuomo.

A Democratic source tells CNN that Paterson will not campaign for a full term.

(CNN) - Embattled New York Gov. David Paterson is expected to announce later Friday that he won't seek a full term in office, but will remain as governor for the rest of the year, a Democratic Party source tells CNN.

Paterson is expected to go before cameras later Friday in New York City.

At a news conference Thursday evening, Paterson said he would not resign the governor's office, and speaking of his bid for a full term in office, he added that "I'm in this for the long haul."

(CNN) - Embattled New York Governor David Paterson woke up to some unfriendly headlines Friday morning.

New York City's two tabloid newspapers, the New York Post and the New York Daily News, in large front page headlines, declared that for Paterson, it's "time to go."

At a news conference Thursday evening, Paterson said he would not resign the governor's office, and speaking of his bid for a full term in office, he added that "I'm in this for the long haul."

Paterson's meeting with reporters was his first since a New York Times story reported that the governor may have intervened in a domestic assault case involving a top aide. Paterson has suspended an aide and asked state attorney general Andrew Cuomo, who is weighing his own primary challenge against Paterson, to investigate allegations of wrongdoing amid news reports that the aide hit a woman and that state police pressured her to keep quiet.

In their front page editorial, the New York Post declared, "It's time for David Paterson to close out his role in one of the strangest episodes in New York history and turn over the affairs of state to his own lieutenant governor, Richard Ravitch."

There was a similar message on the front page of the New York Daily News, which said, "Today we urge David Paterson to step down. Paterson has given serious cause to doubt both his word and his judgment. His administration is in shambles. He has demeaned his high office."

The controversy prompted the state's deputy secretary for public safety, a Cabinet member who supervises the state police, to resign unexpectedly Thursday. She said the governor and state police "acknowledged" direct contact with the woman - an allegation that the governor declined to discuss in a radio interview Thursday.

Gov. David Paterson, D-New York, launched a bid for his own term on Saturday. (Getty Images)

(CNN) - In his first press conference since a bombshell New York Times story reported that he may have intervened in a domestic assault case involving a top aide, New York Gov. David Paterson said late Thursday that he will forge ahead with his troubled election bid, despite calls from fellow state Democrats to suspend his campaign.

But Paterson did not completely rule out ending his campaign, which was facing difficult odds even before the New York Times story was published. He said he would spend the "next few days" soliciting the opinions of other party leaders.

"I am not suspending my campaign, but I am talking to a number of elected officials around the state, as I would, fellow Democrats, to hear their opinions," he told reporters in New York City. Asked about the calls for him to back out of the race, Paterson said he had "an open mind" about the situation.

"I want the Democrats to win this November," he said. "I want the governor of the state of New York to be Democratic, hopefully me, and I will weigh what they have to say, but right now I am a candidate for governor."

Paterson said he is in the race "for the long haul," but added: "I am not in it without having my colleagues feel they can talk to me about this."

According to a new survey, New York Gov. David Paterson holds a 35 percent favorability rating among New York state voters.

(CNN) - Two days after he announced he would seek a full term as New York governor, a new poll suggests that David Paterson faces a rough road to victory.

According to a Siena College Research Institute survey released Monday morning, 35 percent of New York state voters have a favorable view of Paterson and 55 percent hold an unfavorable view of him. The poll also indicates that only 22 percent say Paterson is doing an excellent or good job as governor, and more than three out of four say he is doing a fair or poor job.

"After three months of seeing modest gains in his favorability and job performance ratings, Governor Paterson has lost ground with voters over the last month," says Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.

In a hypothetical Democratic primary matchup with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Paterson trails by 42 points. Cuomo, the son of former three-term New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, has yet to formally say if he will challenge Paterson.

"David Paterson has done nothing to cut into the huge lead Andrew Cuomo enjoys in a potential Democratic primary. In fact, the lead has now expanded to 64 percent to 22 percent, including a nearly 20-point lead for Cuomo with African American voters," adds Greenberg.

Gov. David Paterson, D-New York, launched a bid for his own term Saturday. (Getty Images)

(CNN) - Embattled New York Gov. David Paterson formally kicked off a bid for his own gubernatorial term Saturday, vowing to prove political observers wrong who say he has little chance at escaping a Democratic primary.

“So many people are saying I shouldn’t run for governor,” Paterson said at a rally at New York's Hofstra University, where he obtained his law degree. “But you need to know that this is a governor that does not quit.”

"The politicians and pundits…they want to know how you are doing in antiseptic polls before a campaign has even been run and they want to know how much money you've collected from the special interests and the Albany insiders," Paterson continued. "Well here's a news flash for the media: The special interests don't like me."

Recent polls suggest Paterson lags nearly 40 points behind his likely primary opponent, state Attorney Gen. Andrew Cuomo. Paterson is also at a significant financial disadvantage with $3 million cash-on-hand compared to Cuomo's $16 million, according to The New York Times. Cuomo, the son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, has yet to formally say if he will challenge Paterson.

During the 20-minute speech in front of supporters, Paterson also denounced what he described as a recent smear campaign from "tabloid newspapers."

"This governor is not going to quit because tabloid newspapers print rumors and innuendo and lies all the time waving the banner of a newspaper that could have cleared up the facts and chose not to do so," he said.

David Paterson lashed out Wednesday at a published report alleging a top aide's history of drug arrests and alleged domestic violence..

(CNN) - New York Gov. David Paterson lashed out Wednesday at a published report alleging a top aide's history of drug arrests and alleged domestic violence.

"The more recent allegations reported on by The [New York] Times would be extremely troubling if true - but the conclusions reached by the Times report are not supported by the facts," the Democratic governor said in a statement.

The New York Times article - published Wednesday with the headline "Paterson Aide's Quick Rise Draws Scrutiny" - examined the background of David Johnson, who started as an intern for Paterson when the governor was in the state Legislature and who is now a top aide.

The article by Danny Hakim and William K. Rashbaum said: "In recent months ... Mr. Johnson's ascent has been striking: he is now one of the most senior people in the governor's administration, paid $132,000. He is described as Mr. Paterson's closest confidant, a man with a designated room for his overnight stays in the Executive Mansion, and a broadening role in areas like campaign strategy, government initiatives and the management of the governor's staff."

The Times report found Johnson was "twice arrested on felony drug charges as a teenager, including a charge of selling cocaine to an undercover officer in Harlem."

Washington (CNN) – Rumors of personal and professional misconduct surrounding Gov. David Paterson (D-NY) swirled throughout the blogosphere and the New York media establishment this week to the point where the Governor himself was compelled to deny reports that he would resign. The Governor also addressed an illusory New York Times profile, for which the Governor was interviewed but has not been published as of Sunday.

Howard Kurtz criticized the media's behavior on Reliable Sources Sunday morning and asked: "How on earth do media organizations justify reporting what's essentially damaging gossip?" Two top New York reporters joined Kurtz to answer that question.FULL POST

New York (CNN) - Those lurid rumors flying around about New York Gov. David Paterson? "None of this is true. It's a flat-out lie," he said in a wide-ranging interview with CNN's Larry King on Thursday night.

Since word of an imminent New York Times story electrified New York political and media circles last week, Paterson has been on the defensive. But day after day, the putative piece has failed to appear - allowing gossip and conjecture to flourish.

Sex? Drugs? Graft? Theories about the article's focus have taken on lives of their own.

Asked whether the onslaught of rumors means "somebody (is) after you," Paterson was blunt. "Clearly somebody is. ... I won't kid you. I think I have thought about who might be after me."

He declined to name the suspects, but he encouraged the media to turn its focus from the whispers to the whisperers.